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A tribute to Betty Wainwright |
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Written by Peter Burgess
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Wednesday, 20 August 2008 |
Wainwright Service of Commemoration |
 AW and Betty (photo Mark Richards)
Betty was good for AW. AW was resolute in resisting all attempts of the press and media to invade his happy home and was suspicious of stray visitors, never answering the door or phone. As Mark Richards put it, "Betty was a practical gregarious person who shared his love of fell walking and animals, she formed a shield around him, allowing AW all the opportunity he needed to blossom in his later years holding precious his public anonymity."
AW and Betty married on 10th March 1970 at Kendal County Hall after a lengthy courtship, dragged out somewhat by both having to go through divorce proceedings with their first spouses. They had 20 happy years together up to AW's death on 20th January 1991. Betty moved from their house in Kendal to a bungalow in Burneside where she spent the last 16 years. She leaves two married daughters, Jane King and Annie Sellar.
In her latest letter in November of last year Betty was touched by the journal we again sent celebrating AW and she was particularly thankful for enlarging the print! In latter years Betty's health has been poor although she was always greatful for keeping in touch. In 2004 a stroke actually resulted in her having to learn to write again but she managed it. Her words after the inaugural meeting of the AW Society showed her pleasure in hearing the news first hand and of developments surrounding the AW works,
Thank you so much for all the details of the Inaugural meeting you sent last week. It was very kind and thoughtful of you. I am glad it has got off to such a good start. 
I am sure that Betty felt honoured to see the way that her late husband's name was being preserved for future generations of walkers. No doubt the AW legacy will continue and knowing that such a great woman was part of it, will ensure that Betty's name will remain forever part of the Alfred Wainwright phenomena.
I will end with some words from AW himself, the last lines from Wainwright in Scotland in fact, "It is all over.
Home, James. Or, in my case, Home, Betty."
Betty Wainwright, 1922 - 2008
Peter Burgess Add your words of condolence here
I am sure all members of the OFC will express their regret at Betty's passing and no doubt people will show their sadness in their own way. We have set up a page for people to express their condolences, tributes or thoughts here. |
| HAVE YOU SEEN? |
 As a child growing up, I was always proud to be Lancastrian. On one of my earliest trips to Lakeland I remember stopping at the summit of Wrynose Pass in my friend's Volkswagon camper. I guess the year must've been about 1979, but it was the monolith of limestone near the summit of the motor road that caught my interest. Seeing LANCASHIRE emblazened across it was obvious to a child, but it was the L, W and R embedded in the grass that had me intrigued. "They stand for Lancashire, Cumberland and Westmorland", I was told by my friend's father. With hindsight, it's the first recollection I have of taking note of that word. I'd been to Kendal and of course driven through the old county of Westmorland on many an occasion, but this piece of limestone at the summit of the infamous pass has become somewhat of a pilgrimage point for me - a kind of qiblah whilst I'm exiled in London! |
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 When my parents moved to the Lake District, one of the first things I learnt was that their house was situated on the Dales Way. Over 18 years they've had many a walker asking for route directions and sitting on the bench near their home lapping up the scenary on their last few miles on their last day of walking into Bowness-on-Windermere. In the back of my mind, my intention has always been to walk the route and with this in mind I recently purchased a new DVD which I knew had been in production. The DVD in question is The Dales Way with Mark Richards a great new title outlining this majestic route from it's start in Ilkley all the way along its 80 miles to its terminus at Bowness on the shores of Windermere. |
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"If you dear readers should get a bit of grit in your boots as you are crossing Hay Stacks in the years to come, please treat it with respect. It might be me." A Wainwright 1907-1991
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